(IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO
VATICANA)YOU ARE NOT AND YOU WILL NOT BE ALONE! POPE TELLS EARTHQUAKE
VICTIMS IN EMILIA ROMAGNA Vatican City, 26 June 2012 (VIS) - At 9 a.m. today
the Holy Father departed by helicopter from the Vatican to fly to the Italian
region of Emilia Romagna which, beginning on 20 May, has been affected by a
series of earthquakes that have left many dead and hundreds of injured. The
tremors have forced thousands of people to abandon their homes, destroyed
historic buildings and seriously damaged the infrastructure and economy of the
entire area.The Pope's helicopter landed at 10.30 a.m. at the sports ground
of San Marino di Carpi where he was welcomed by Bishop Francesco Cavina of Carpi
and by Franco Gabrielli, head of the Italian Civil Protection Department. The
Pontiff then boarded a minibus to travel to Rovereto di Novi where he made a
brief visit to the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria which partially
collapsed during the earthquake killing the pastor Fr. Ivan Martini.
Subsequently the Holy Father boarded a Jeep from which he greeted the faithful
while being driven to the central square of Rovereto di Novi where, in the
presence of the archbishops and bishops of the affected areas (Bologna, Carpi,
Modena, Mantua, Ferrara and Reggio Emilia) he delivered his address.Ample
extracts from the Holy Father's words are given below:"Ever since the
beginning of the earthquake which affected you I have been close to you with my
prayers and concern. But when I saw that the trial had become more arduous, I
felt the impelling need to come among you in person, and I thank the Lord for
having enabled me to do so. Thus I greet all of you who are gathered here, as
with my mind and heart I embrace all the villages and all the people affected by
the earthquake, especially the families and communities mourning their dead. May
the Lord welcome them into His peace"."I was aware that, apart from
suffering the material consequences, your spirits were also being sorely tried
by the continuation of the seismic activity, including even strong tremors, and
by the loss of certain symbolic buildings in your towns and villages, in
particular many churches. Here in Rovereto di Novi in the collapse of a church -
which I have just visited - Fr. Ivan Martini lost his life. Paying homage to his
memory, I address a special greeting to you, dear priests, and to all confreres
who, as has happened at other difficult moments in the history of these lands,
are showing their generous love for the people of God."As you all know, we
priests (as well as religious and no small number of lay people) daily pray the
'Breviary' which contains the Liturgy of the Hours, the prayer of the Church
which marks the hours of the day. We pray the Psalms in an order which is the
same for the entire Catholic Church. Why am I telling you this? Because in
recent days I came across this expression in Psalm 46: 'God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble'"."These words seem to contrast
with the fear we inevitably feel following an experience such as the one you
have just been through; that is an immediate reaction, which can become more
profound if the phenomenon is prolonged. However, the Psalm does not in fact
refer to that kind of fear; and the confidence it expresses in not that of
supermen untouched by normal feelings. The confidence expressed is that of the
faith. Yes we may feel fear and anguish - even Jesus did - but above all is the
certainty that God is with us. ... His Love is as solid as a rock. We see this
Love in the crucified Christ; at one and the same time a sign of suffering and
of love. This is the revelation of God Love, Who remained united to us even unto
extreme abasement."On this rock, with this firm hope, we can build, we can
rebuild. Italy was rebuilt on the postwar ruins, and not just material ruins,
thanks also to help received, but above all thanks to the faith of so many
people animated by a spirit of genuine solidarity, by the will to give a future
to their families, a future of freedom and peace. You are a people whom all
Italians respect for your humanity and sociability, for hard work and
cordiality. These qualities have been dealt a harsh blow by the current
situation, but this must not and cannot affect your identity as a people, your
history and your culture. Remain faithful to your vocation as a fraternal and
united people, and face everything with patience and determination, rejecting
the temptations which are unfortunately always associated with such moments of
weakness and need."The situation you are going through has highlighted an
aspect which I hope will remain at the forefront of your minds: You are not and
you will not be alone! Over these days, amidst so much destruction and pain, you
have seen and felt how numerous people have expressed closeness, solidarity and
affection through so many signs and concrete forms of assistance. My presence
among you is intended to be another such sign of love and hope. Looking at you
lands I have been profoundly moved by the sight of so many wounds, but I have
also seen many hands extended to cure those wounds with you. I have seen that
life restarts with force and courage, and that is the most beautiful and
lustrous sign of all."From here I wish to launch an appeal to the
institutions, and to all citizens, despite the difficulties of the current time,
to be like the Good Samaritan of the Bible who did not walk by indifferent to
the one in need, but lovingly tended him, helped him, remained at his side and
took full responsibility for the other's needs. The Church is close and will
remain close with her prayers and with the concrete help of her organisations,
especially Caritas, which will also undertake to rebuild the social fibre of
parish communities".Having completed his address, the Holy Father greeted
the civil and religious authorities present. He then returned to the sports
ground of San Marino di Carpi where his helicopter took off at midday, arriving
in Rome shortly after 1.30 p.m.

NOTE FROM THE
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH Vatican City, 26 June 2012 (VIS)
- Given below is the text of an English-language note issued today by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Fatih concerning the appointment of
Archbishop Augustine Di Noia as vice president of the Pontifical Commission
"Ecclesia Dei":"Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Augustine Di Noia,
O.P., to the post of vice president of the Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei'.
The appointment of a high-ranking prelate to this position is a sign of the Holy
Father’s pastoral solicitude for traditionalist Catholics in communion with the
Holy See and his strong desire for the reconciliation of those traditionalist
communities not in union with the See of Peter. The president of the commission
is the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal
William J. Levada."The Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' was established
in 1988 by Blessed John Paul II to facilitate 'full ecclesial communion of
priests, seminarians, religious communities or individuals until now linked in
various ways to the Fraternity founded by Archbishop Lefebvre' and to promote
the pastoral care of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical
tradition of the Catholic Church. In 2009, the Pontifical Commission was
structurally linked to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to address
the doctrinal issues in the ongoing dialogue between the Holy See and the
Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X."As a respected Dominican theologian,
Archbishop Di Noia has devoted much attention to these doctrinal issues, as well
as to the priority of the hermeneutic of continuity and reform in the right
interpretation of Vatican Council II - a critically important area in the
dialogue between the Holy See and the Priestly Fraternity. Under the guidance of
Cardinal Levada, with the assistance of Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the
Pontifical Commission, this dialogue has been ongoing over the past three
years."Previously, Archbishop Di Noia served as secretary of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments where,
together with the prefect, Cardinal Antonio Canizares, he oversaw the
reorganisation of the dicastery and the preparation of a new 'Regolamento'
following the directions of Pope Benedict’s 'motu proprio' of 30 August 2011,
'Quaerit Semper'. Archbishop Di Noia’s experience and continued association with
the Congregation for Divine Worship will facilitate the development of certain
desired liturgical provisions in the celebration of the 1962 'Missale
Romanum'."In addition, the broad respect that Archbishop Di Noia enjoys in
the Jewish community will help in addressing some issues that have arisen in the
area of Catholic-Jewish relations as the journey towards the reconciliation of
traditionalist communities has progressed".

OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 26 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:-
Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Merlo-Moreno,
Argentina, presented by Bishop Fernando Maria Bargallo, in accordance with canon
401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law, appointing Bishop Alcides Jorge Pedro
Casaretto, emeritus of the diocese of San Isidro, Argentina, as apostolic
administrator "ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Merlo-Moreno.- Appointed
Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues O.P., secretary of the Congregation for Catholic
Education, as archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church.- Appointed
Bishop Vincenzo Paglia of Terni-Narni-Amelia, Italy, as president of the
Pontifical Council for the Family, at the same time elevating him to the dignity
of archbishop. He succeeds Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, whose resignation from the
same office the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.-
Appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, O.P., secretary of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as vice
president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei".- Appointed Bishop
Arthur Roche of Leeds, England, as secretary of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, at the same time elevating him to
the dignity of archbishop.- Appointed Bishop Protase Rugambwa of Kigoma,
Tanzania, as adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of
Peoples and president of the Pontifical Missionary Works, at the same time
elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. He succeeds Archbishop Piergiuseppe
Vacchelli, whose resignation from the same offices the Holy Father accepted,
upon having reached the age limit.- Appointed Msgr. Krzysztof Jozef Nykiel,
official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as regent of the
Apostolic Penitentiary. The bishop-elect was born in Osjakow, Poland in 1965 and
ordained a priest in 1990. He studied in Rome and has also served as an official
of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. He succeeds Bishop
Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv., whose resignation from the same office the
Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

ASIA NEWS REPORT: For weeks
he was stalked and threatened by police and criminals. According to the
authorities, Deng Jiyuan is a "traitor" because he spoke to foreign media about
the violence of the one-child law.

Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) - The husband of the
woman who a few weeks ago in Zengjia (Shaanxi) was forced forced to abort a
fetus of seven months, has been missing for two days. For over a week he and his
family have endured controls, pressures and violence. It seems to be an act of
revenge by the local government because the couple denounced the violence to the
international media.

Deng Jiyuan, the 29 year-old father of the aborted
child, was followed for days by police and thugs at home, at the hospital, where
his wife is hospitalized, and even in the bathroom. The pressure started when
Deng tried to go to Beijing to participate in an online transmission on
abortion. The man was threatened and beaten several times. The pressure
increased when the family gave an interview to the German magazine
Stern. Two days later, on Sunday, June 24, at least 40 people arrived
at the hospital shouting and carrying banners that threatened the whole family
with the words "Beat the traitors strongly and throw them out of Zengjia". One
of the relatives, who tried to photograph the group, was beaten.

On June
2 the agency for population control forced Jianmei Feng, aged 22, to undergo an
abortion in the seventh month. Feng and Deng have a five year-old daughter and
another child is prohibited by law. The employees of family planning threatened
her to pay a fine of 40,000 yuan (about 4,000 euros, four years of wages) or to
undergo the abortion. But abortion after the sixth month is also prohibited.
Their case has aroused criticism and complaints from all over China, especially
after on the internet there appeared pictures
of the woman, overwhelmed by the abortion, with alongside her on the bed, the
bleeding corpse of the aborted baby.

After
the furor in the media, the authorities of Ankang (which have authority over the
village of Zengjia) confirmed the violence against Feng Jianmei. They have also
suspended the three employees who ordered the forced abortion and gave the
family permission to have another child. The woman's husband, Deng Jiyuan said,
however, bitterly: "The government should not have the power to tell us when and
how to have a child."

Archbishop Nichols, Archbishop of
Westminster, this week called for a more developed and shared understanding of
human dignity for the good of all in society as he delivered an address to the
Thomas More Society at Lincoln’s Inn on Monday evening.The address explored
the problem in reaching an agreed definition at a time when the precise meaning
of human dignity is increasingly being questioned, particularly now in ethics
and law. The Archbishop said this was no mere academic debate. “It matters very
much because the notion of human dignity plays a key role especially in
international conventions, and in our understanding of the moral life. How in
our pluralist society we develop and hold onto a shared understanding of such a
key concept can have an immense influence on the quality of moral and social
development of people.”The talk explored the problem in reaching a common
understanding of human dignity and how the Church’s understanding of what human
dignity is might help society to think it through.Archbishop Nichols said:
“I will propose that human dignity means, in Michael Rosen’s striking phrase,
the inner kernel of transcendental value or worth that persons have simply
because they are human and irrespective of whether they or others consider
themselves to be thus valued.”

The Archbishop concluded with an appeal to
dialogue. “The protestors in the Arab spring uprisings last year seized on the
idea of human dignity precisely because it offered a promise of a new future.
Indeed it does. As Christians, we believe that the idea of human dignity- as all
truth must- also carries with it the latent power and potential of the Gospel,”
he said.“Through dialogue and engagement with others, as Christians it is
our role both to bring the light of that truth to a world in need of healing and
hope, and also to seek with and through the insights of others a deeper
understanding of where that truth may yet be leading us.”To contribute to
this dialogue, he also hoped that the high-level inter-disciplinary academic
conference in Oxford this week, on the theme of “understanding human dignity”,
which is jointly sponsored by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales,
together with Oxford University, the British Academy, Queens University Belfast
and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome would advance precisely this
shared understanding especially among the judges, legal academics, philosophers
and theologians taking part.

Agenzia Fides REPORT - Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez
Rodriguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo, said that "no foreign country can come
to the Dominican Republic to impose its rules on immigration" and called on
local organizations to exercise greater transparency concerning the situation of
Haitians in the nation.The Cardinal wanted to respond to the complaints on
behalf of the Haitian Pastoral, according to which the Dominican government
refuses to give the documents to immigrants who have been in the country for
more than 12 years and also work permits to those who work in the territory.
Haitian migration in the Dominican Republic has become a huge and very complex
problem."The nation spent years in discussions and talks on the issue of
Haitian migration, but now the pressure and the interference of foreign
countries and groups concerned about their interests increases," the Archbishop
of Santo Domingo told the local press,.In the note sent to Fides Agency says
that the Cardinal pointed out that the situation of illegal Haitians in the
country must be resolved urgently: "fair and humanitarian solutions need to be
found ... I do not know how, perhaps with an amnesty or delivering the documents
to the workers and employees, as suggested by some employers, but this situation
has to become regular." According to data collected by Fides Agency, the largest
group of "undocumented Haitians " work in agricultural areas and in the building
field as laborers, and a large group is also engaged in trade, without a
contract. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 25/6/2012)

PRETORIA, June 22, 2012 (CISA)- Refugees
in South Africa marked World Refugee Day by protesting the ongoing closures of
asylum offices across the country, accusing the government there of
‘disregarding’ its international human rights commitments.The
government started closing the refugee reception centre in metropolitan areas
last year, with plans to reopen the offices at border posts. The Department of
Home Affairs has insisted that this will not impact the country’s commitments to
protecting asylum seekers, but will instead help deal with South Africa’s
bloated asylum system.According to Alex Bell, human rights groups have
warned that the closure of the offices is making it even harder for asylum
seekers to apply for the protection that South Africa is committed to
provide.The government’s plan started with the closure of the Crown Mines
office in Johannesburg in May 2011. This was closely followed by the closure of
the Port Elizabeth refugee office in November 2011. Both these closures were
challenged in the courts which have held that the decision to close these
refugee offices was unlawful and have asked Home Affairs to revisit this
decision.According to Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, head of the Refugee and
Migrant Rights Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, the closures and the
decision to move asylum processing to the border areas “has caused considerable
anxiety within the refugee community.”“South Africa is disregarding its
international obligations to protect refugees and these moves are
counter-productive,” Ramjathan-Keogh said.Lawyers for Human Rights said the
new policy changes appear to be a “mechanism to avoid dealing with the real
problems of a poor refugee status determination process and an inability to
process claims within a reasonable time period coupled with the rampant
corruption within the asylum system.”These sentiments have been echoed by
the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), which
organized this week’s public protest calling for the closures to stop.
Sicel’mpilo Shange-Buthane, CoRMSA’s Executive Director, told SW Radio Africa
that South African authorities appear to be “making it as hard as possible for
people to claim asylum.”“We are very concerned about the actions of the
authorities and what knock on effects these have for asylum seekers. It’s about
denying the rights of people to asylum which is dictated by the Asylum Act…
closing these offices already prejudices people who are in the country but have
not yet applied for asylum,” said Shange-Buthane .She also said that there
are monthly reports of xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa. “It
sends a message that ‘these people are not needed’ and it is a dangerous message
that promotes dangerous attitude and consequences,” Shange-Buthane
warned.According to figures released for World Refugee Day June 20, South
Africa remains “the largest recipient of individual asylum applications
(107,000), a status it has held for the past four years”. This includes an
estimated three million or more Zimbabweans, who continue to face a serious
threat if they are returned home.But this threat has not prevented South
Africa from lifting its moratorium on deportations and it’s understood that at
least 14,000 Zimbabweans have been deported since last year.SHARED FROM CISA
NEWS

Refuge centres caring for victims of domestic violence have
welcomed the Federal Government's expanded definitions that came into effect
this month making it an offence to harm pets, cut people off from their families
or withhold financial support."These changes are welcomed by refuges as they
not only reflect a more contemporary understanding of abusive behaviour, but
send a message saying any form of domestic violence should not be tolerated,"
says Ilknur Chaloupka, Service Manager at one of the city's St Vincent De Paul
Society's refuges. "Many people including the women who come to the refuge
think that if there is no physical abuse, there is no domestic violence. These
new definitions will help change this perception as they now include emotional
abuse and emotional manipulation."The new laws governing the definition of
domestic violence were passed by the Commonwealth in December 2011 and became
law this month. "We have been waiting for these changes for many years.
However we still see this as only a step towards acknowledging domestic violence
does not only refer to physical abuse but to emotional abuse which can have a
powerful and long lasting effect," she says. "Women who come to the refuge
describe the emotional abuse they have suffered as one of the worst impacts of
domestic violence as it creates harm so deep in their psyche they feel as if
they are wounded for life."

Many believe if there is no physical abuse
there is no violence

Until now a man's attempts at control by
isolating a woman and her children from extended family, friends and the
community generally has not been regarded as domestic violence. Nor has
withholding money in a bid to further manipulate and control the woman. But both
are now important inclusions of the new definitions relating to domestic
violence. The emotional abuse suffered as part of domestic violence, not
only has an adverse effect on the mental and emotional health of a woman, but
has a damaging effect on children and on their relationship with their
mother."The inclusion of pet abuse in these new changes to the law are also
especially welcome," Ilknur says.At the refuge she manages she says there
have been quite a few incidents over the years where perpetrators of domestic
violence have deliberately harmed a beloved family pet as a way of intentionally
causing distress to his partner and children.

New domestic violence definitions will also
help protect children

In some cases, fear an adored family pet could
be harmed may even keep a woman from leaving a dangerous situation. Leaving a
pet behind and at risk can also be traumatic."We've had many families who
have been forced to leave their personal belongings behind as well as a beloved
pet or pets," Ilknur says, explaining that being parted from a pet may not only
contribute to despair, but can also give rise to agonising feelings of
guilt.If a pet is harmed, victims often blame themselves rather than the
perpetrator, and feel responsible for the animal's injury or death.Incidents
of domestic violence continue to rise. In NSW last year, police recorded 26,673
domestic violence-related assaults, up from 26,084 the previous year. Equally
shocking are recent statistics that found as many as one in five Australian
women have been victims of domestic violence.

Attorney General Nicola Roxon says domestic
violence has remained invisible to the legal system for too
long

Attorney General, Nicola Roxon who lobbied for the changes to
the law, says family violence had remained "invisible to the legal system" for
too long.As a result, from now on the Family Court will be required to ask
parents if there was abuse or the threat of abuse during the relationship. The
Court will also be required to ask whether children were exposed to abuse from a
parent, with the results of this question taken into consideration in subsequent
custody hearings.But despite endorsing these changes, Ilknur and others
working with victims of domestic violence would like to see the law go even
further."Other issues still need to be addressed such as women and children
having to face the perpetrator of violence in mediation under the Family Law
system," she says and explained that not only are women and children filled with
fear at these face-to-face meetings but frequently feel forced or coerced into
agreeing to 50-50 custody arrangements which simply exposes them and their
children to further physical and emotional abuse.SHARED FROM SYDNEY
ARCHDIOCES

Josemaría Escrivá was born in Barbastro, Spain, on
9 January 1902, the second of six children born to José Escrivá and María
Dolores Albás. His parents were devout Catholics and he was baptised on 13
January that year and received from them – first through the example of their
life – a firm grounding in the faith and the Christian virtues: love for
frequent Confession and Holy Communion, a trusting recourse to prayer, devotion
to Our Lady, helping those in greatest need.

Blessed Josemaría grew up as
a cheerful, lively and straightforward child, fun-loving, good at study,
intelligent and with an observing eye. He had a great affection for his mother
and a trusting friendship with his father, who encouraged him to feel free to
open his heart and tell him his worries, and was always ready to answer his
questions with affection and prudence. It was not long before Our Lord began to
temper his soul in the forge of sorrow. Between 1910 and 1913 his three younger
sisters died and in 1914 his family suffered financial ruin. In 1915 the
Escrivás moved to Logroño, a nearby town, where their father found a job with
which to keep his family.

In the winter of 1917-18 something happened
which was to have a decisive influence on Josemaría Escrivá’s future. The snow
fell very heavily that Christmas in Logroño, and one day he saw some frozen
footprints in the snow. They had been left by a discalced Carmelite. Josemaría
found himself wondering: If others sacrifice so much for God and their
neighbour, couldn’t I do something too? This was how God started to speak to his
heart: I began to have an inkling of what Love is, to realise that my heart was
yearning for something great, for love. He did not yet know what precisely God
wanted of him, but he decided to become a priest, thinking that it would make
him more available to fulfil God’s will.

Priestly
ordination

Having completed his secondary education, he started
his priestly studies at the Seminary of Logroño, passing on, in 1920, to the
Seminary of Saragossa, at whose Pontifical University he completed his formation
prior to ordination. At his father’s suggestion and with the permission of his
ecclesiastical superiors, he also studied Law at the University of Saragossa.
His generous and cheerful character and his straightforwardness and calm
approach to things won him many friends. His life of piety, respect for
discipline and endeavour in study were an example to his fellow seminarians and
in 1922, when he was but twenty years of age, he was appointed an inspector or
prefect in the Seminary by the Archbishop of Saragossa.

During that time
he spent many hours praying before the Blessed Sacrament. His spiritual life
became deeply rooted in the Eucharist. Each day he would also visit the Basilica
of Our Lady of Pilar, asking Mary to request God to show him what He wanted him
to do. As he recalled on 2 October 1968: Since I felt those inklings of God's
love, I sought to carry out, within the limits of my smallness, what he expected
from this poor instrument. (…) And, with those yearnings, I prayed and prayed
and prayed, in constant prayer. I kept on repeating: Domine, ut sit!, Domine, ut
videam!, like the poor fellow in the Gospel, who shouted out because God can do
everything. Lord, that I may see! Lord, that it may come to be! And I also
repeated (…) filled with confidence in my heavenly Mother: Domina, ut sit!,
Domina, ut videam! The Blessed Virgin has always helped me to discover her Son's
desires.

On 27 November 1924 his father, José Escrivá, died suddenly and
unexpectedly. On 28 March 1925, Josemaría was ordained a priest by Bishop Díaz
Gómara in the church of the Seminary of St Charles in Saragossa. Two days later
he celebrated his first Solemn Mass in the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of Our
Lady of Pilar and on 31 March he moved to Perdiguera, a small country village,
where he had been appointed assistant regent to the parish.

In April
1927, with the consent of his Archbishop, he took up residence in Madrid to
study for his doctorate in Civil Law, a degree which at that time was only
granted by the Central University in the Spanish capital. In Madrid, his
apostolic zeal soon brought him into contact with a wide variety of people:
students, artists, workers, academics, priests. He spent many hours caring for
children, and for sick and poverty-stricken people in the outer suburbs of the
city.

At the same time he taught law to earn a living for himself and his
mother and sister and young brother. For a good many years the family were in
serious financial difficulties, which they bore with dignity and courage. Our
Lord blessed Fr Josemaría with abundant graces, both ordinary and extraordinary.
They found a fertile reception in his generous soul and produced much fruit in
the service of the Church and souls.The foundation of Opus Dei

Opus
Dei was born on 2 October 1928. Blessed Josemaría was spending some days on
retreat and, while doing his meditation on some notes regarding the inner
motions he had received from God in the previous years, he suddenly saw – to see
was the term he always used to describe the foundational experience – the
mission the Lord wanted to entrust to him: to open up in the Church a new
vocational path, aimed at spreading the quest for holiness and the practice of
apostolate through the sanctification of ordinary work in the middle of the
world, without changing one’s place. A few months later, on 14 February 1930,
God made him understand that Opus Dei was to spread among women
also.

From that moment onward, Blessed Josemaría devoted all his energies
to the fulfilment of his foundational mission, fostering among men and women
from all areas of society a personal commitment to follow Christ, to love their
neighbour and seek holiness in daily life. He did not see himself as an
innovator or reformer, for he was convinced that Jesus Christ is eternally new
and that the Holy Spirit is constantly rejuvenating the Church, for whose
service God has brought Opus Dei into existence. Fully aware that the task
entrusted to him was supernatural by nature, he proceeded to dig deep
foundations for his work, based on prayer and penance, on a joyous awareness of
his being a son of God and on tireless work. People of all sorts began to follow
him and, in particular, university students and teachers, among whom he awakened
a genuine determination to serve everyone, firing in them a desire to place
Christ at the heart of all human activities by means of work that is sanctified,
and sanctifies both the doer and those for whom it is done. This was the goal he
set for the initiatives of the faithful of Opus Dei: to lift up to God, with the
help of grace, each and every created reality, so that Christ may reign in
everyone and in everything; to get to know Christ Jesus; to get Him known by
others; to take Him everywhere. One can understood why he was able to declare
that The divine paths of the earth have been opened up.

Apostolic
expansion

In 1933, he started a university Centre, the DYA
Academy, because he grasped that the world of human knowledge and culture is a
key to the evangelisation of society as a whole. In 1934 he published Spiritual
Considerations, the first version of The Way. Since then there have been 372
printings of the book in 44 languages and its circulation has passed the four
and a half million mark.

While Opus Dei was thus taking its first steps,
the Spanish Civil War broke out. It was 1936. There were serious outbreaks of
religious violence in Madrid. To these Fr Josemaría responded heroically with
prayer, penance and apostolic endeavour. It was a time of suffering for the
whole Church, but also a time of spiritual and apostolic growth, and for
strengthening hope. By 1939, with the war over, the Founder of Opus Dei was able
to give new vigour to his apostolic work all over the Spanish peninsula. In
particular he mobilised many young university students to take Christ to every
area of society and discover the greatness of the Christian calling. At the same
time, with his reputation for holiness growing, many Bishops invited him to
preach to their clergy and to lay people involved in Catholic organisations.
Similar petitions came to him from the superiors of religious orders; he always
said yes.

In 1941, while he was preaching a retreat to priests in Lerida,
in the North of Spain, his mother who had been a great help to him in the
apostolates of Opus Dei, died. God also let him become the butt of harsh
misunderstandings. The Bishop of Madrid, Bishop Eijo y Garay gave him his
fullest backing and granted the first canonical approval to Opus Dei. Blessed
Josemaría accepted these difficulties with a prayerful and cheerful attitude,
aware that all those desiring to live piously in Christ Jesus will meet
persecution (2 Tim 3:12) and he recommended his spiritual children, in the face
of these attacks, to forgive ungrudgingly: don’t answer back, but pray, work and
smile.

In 1943, through a new foundational grace he received while
celebrating Holy Mass, there came to birth – within Opus Dei – the Priestly
Society of the Holy Cross, in which priests proceeding from the faithful of Opus
Dei could be incardinated. The fact of all the faithful of Opus Dei, both laity
and priests, belonging fully to Opus Dei, with both laity and priests
cooperating organically in its apostolates, is a feature of the foundational
charism, which the Church confirmed in 1982, when giving Opus Dei its definitive
status in Church Law as a Personal Prelature. On 25 June 1944 three engineers
were ordained to the priesthood. One of them was Alvaro del Portillo, who would
eventually succeed the Founder as the head of Opus Dei. In the years that
followed, close on a thousand laymen of Opus Dei reached the priesthood at the
encouragement of Blessed Josemaría.

The Priestly Society of the Holy
Cross, which is intrinsically united to the Prelature of Opus Dei, also carries
out, in close harmony with the Pastors of the local Churches, activities of
spiritual formation for diocesan priests and candidates to the priesthood.
Diocesan priests too may belong to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, while
maintaining unchanged their status as clergy of their respective dioceses.A
Roman and universal spirit

As soon as the end of the world war was in
sight, Blessed Josemaría began to prepare apostolic work in other countries,
because, as he pointed out, Jesus wants his Work from the outset to have a
universal, Catholic heart. In 1946 he moved to Rome, in order to obtain papal
recognition for Opus Dei. On 24 February 1947, Pius XII granted Opus Dei the
decretum laudis, or decree of praise; and three years later, on 16 June 1950,
the Church’s definitive approval. Since then it has been possible to admit as
Cooperators of Opus Dei men and women who are not Catholic and not even
Christian, but who wish to help its apostolic works, with their work, alms and
prayer.

The headquarters of Opus Dei were fixed in Rome, to emphasise
even more clearly the aspiration which is the guiding force of all its work, to
serve the Church as the Church wishes to be served, in close union with the see
of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church. On several occasions, Pius XII and
John XXIII sent Blessed Josemaría expressions of their affection and esteem;
Paul VI wrote to him in 1964 describing Opus Dei as "a living expression of the
perennial youthfulness of the Church".

This stage too of the life of the
Founder of Opus Dei was characterised by all kinds of trials. Not only was his
health affected by many sufferings (for more than ten years he had a serious
form of diabetes, from which he was miraculously cured in 1954), but also there
were financial hardships and the difficulties arising from the expansion of the
apostolic works worldwide. Nevertheless, he kept smiling throughout, because
True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful. His permanent
good humour was a constant witness to his unconditional love for God’s
will.

The world is little, when Love is great: his desire to flood the
earth with the light of Christ led him to follow up the calls that many Bishops
made to him from all over the world, asking Opus Dei to help them in the work of
evangelisation with its apostolates. Many varied projects were undertaken:
colleges to impart professional training, schools for agricultural workers,
universities, primary and secondary schools, hospitals and medical centres, etc.
These activities, which he often compared to a shoreless sea, originate at the
initiative of ordinary Christians who seek to meet specific local needs with a
lay mentality and a professional approach. They are open to people of all races,
religions and social backgrounds, because their unmistakably Christian outlook
is always matched by a deep respect for the freedom of consciences.When John
XXIII announced his decision to call an Ecumenical Council, Blessed Josemaría
began to pray and get others to pray for the happy outcome of this great
initiative of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, as he wrote in a letter in
1962. As a result of the deliberations of the Council, the Church’s solemn
Magisterium was to confirm fundamental aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei, such
as the universal call to holiness; professional work as a means to holiness and
apostolate; the value and lawful limits of Christian freedom in temporal
affairs; and the Holy Mass as the centre and root of the interior life. Blessed
Josemaría met numerous Council Fathers and experts, who saw him as a forerunner
of many of the master lines of the Second Vatican Council. Profoundly identified
with the Council’s teaching, he diligently fostered its implementation through
the formative activities of Opus Dei all over the world.

Holiness
in the midst of the world

Heaven and earth seem to merge, far
away, on the horizon. But don’t forget that where they really meet is in your
heart as a son of God. Blessed Josemaría preached constantly that interior life
is more important than organising activities. In The Way he wrote that These
world crises are crises of saints. He insisted that holiness always requires
prayer, work and apostolate to be intertwined in what he called a unity of life,
and practised this himself with cheerful perseverance.

He was utterly
convinced that in order to attain sanctity through daily work, one needs to
struggle to be a soul of prayer, of deep inner life. When a person lives this
way, everything becomes prayer, everything can and ought to lead us to God,
feeding our constant contact with Him, from morning till night. Every kind of
work can become prayer, and every kind of work, become prayer, turns into
apostolate.

The root of the astonishing fruitfulness of his ministry lies
precisely in his ardent interior life which made Blessed Josemaría a
contemplative in the midst of the world. His interior life fed on prayer and the
sacraments, and expressed itself in a passionate love for the Eucharist, in the
depth with which he lived the Mass as the centre and root of his own life, in
his tender devotion to the Virgin Mary, to St Joseph and the Guardian Angels,
and in his faithfulness to the Church and the Pope.

The
definitive encounter with the Most Holy Trinity

During the last
years of his life, the Founder of Opus Dei undertook a number of catechetical
journeys to countries in Europe and Latin America. Wherever he went, there were
meetings, which were always simple and familiar in tone, even though often those
listening to him were to be counted in thousands. He would speak about God, the
sacraments, Christian devotions, the sanctification of work, and his love for
the Church and the Pope. On 28 March 1975 he celebrated his priestly Golden
Jubilee. His prayer that day was like a summing up of his whole life: Fifty
years have gone by, and I am still like a faltering child. I am just beginning,
beginning again, as I do each day in my interior life. And it will be so to the
end of my days: always beginning anew.

On 26 June 1975, at midday,
Blessed Josemaría died in his workroom, of a cardiac arrest, before a picture of
Our Lady which received his last glance. At the time, Opus Dei was present in
all five continents, with over 60,000 members from 80 nationalities. His books
of spirituality (The Way, Holy Rosary, Conversations with Mgr Escrivá, Christ is
Passing By, Friends of God, Love for the Church, The Way of the Cross, Furrow,
The Forge) have reached millions of copies.

After his death, many people
asked the Holy Father for his canonisation. On 17 May 1992, in Rome, His
Holiness Pope John Paul II raised Josemaría Escrivá to the altars, in a
beatification ceremony before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. On 21 September
2001, the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinal and Bishop members of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, unanimously confirmed the miraculous
character of a cure attributed to Blessed Josemaría. The decree regarding this
miracle was read before the Holy Father on 20 December. On 26 February 2002,
John Paul II presided over an Ordinary Public Consistory of Cardinals and,
having heard the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present, he established that
the ceremony for the Canonisation of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá should take place
on 6 October 2002.

(IMAGE SOURCE RADIO
VATICANA)FOSTERING VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD IS A CONSTANT
CHALLENGE FOR THE CHURCH Vatican City, 25 June 2012 (VIS) - A press
conference was held this morning in the Holy See Press Office to present the
document "Pastoral Guidelines for Fostering Vocations to Priestly Ministry". The
conference was presented by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski; Archbishop Jean-Louis
Brugues O.P., and Msgr. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, respectively prefect, secretary
and under secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education.The cardinal
explained that the document had been requested during the plenary of the
congregation in 2005. Preparation began in 2008 on the basis of replies and
suggestions from the various episcopal conferences, and the final text was
approved by the Holy Father on 25 March 2012, twentieth anniversary of the
Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores dabo vobis".The document is divided into
three parts, of which the first examines the current situation of priestly
vocations in the world today, and the relevant forms of pastoral care. Part two
analyses the identity of the ministerial priesthood, while part three makes some
suggestions for the pastoral care of vocations. The key to understanding the
text, the cardinal said, lies in the idea that "fostering vocations to the
priesthood is a constant challenge for the Church".Part one of the document
identifies three factors which hinder vocational pastoral care, evident above
all in Churches of ancient Christian tradition in the west: falling birthrates
and the crisis in families, the spread of a secularised mentality, and the
difficult conditions in which priests live and exercise their ministry."In
the light of those difficulties", said Cardinal Grocholewski, the document "lays
down the conditions necessary to ensure that the grace of the call finds fertile
terrain in the Church, and openness among young people to the priestly
vocation". This includes "creating a fruitful soil for Christian life in the
ecclesial community; ... the irreplaceable function of prayer; ... the
importance of integrated pastoral care; ... a new drive to evangelisation and
the mission; ... the central role of the family; ... a coherent and joyful
witness of life on the part of priests; ... the educational effectiveness of
voluntary work; ... and the importance of schools and universities".For his
part Archbishop Brugues explained that part two of the document covers certain
specific elements which, he said, "must be highlighted, precisely because they
are being threatened or put in the shade and set aside by the well-known
difficulties in Church life and by contemporary culture. This risks provoking
dangerous deviations in the value of vocations to priestly ministry".These
elements include "a tendency towards the progressive transformation of the
priesthood into a profession". This can be associated with "the danger of
exaggerated activism, an increasing individualism which not infrequently closes
priests in a perverse and depressing solitude, and the confusion of roles in the
Church which comes about when we lose the sense of distinction between roles and
responsibilities, and not everyone comes together to collaborate in the one
mission entrusted to the People of God".Part two also emphasises the fact
that priestly ministry is to be understood "in the framework of a dialogue of
love between God and man which, though it exists in all Christian vocations,
assumes the characteristic of a call to a typical, stable and demanding
relationship with Jesus Himself, the one model of the priesthood in the New
Testament. ... This new and specific relationship with Jesus causes the person
called to enter into an equally new and specific relationship with the Christian
community".Finally, part three of the document focuses on certain aspects of
formation for the priestly ministry. These include "a profound experience of
community life in order to avoid new forms of clericalism; ... complete
integration and emotional maturity; ... intense and obedient participation in
the ecclesiastical context, with concrete love for one's own particular Church;
... generous openness to the universal dimensions of the mission; ... the
decisive role of those who accompany vocations and ... the presentation of
exemplary figures of priests".The conference ended with some words from
Msgr. Angelo Vincenzo Zani, who explained how the text "reiterates the fact that
a fruitful terrain for vocations is a Christian community which listens to the
Word, prays with the liturgy, and demonstrates charity. The document calls the
entire Church trustingly to redouble her efforts to educate people to welcome
the call of God to priestly ministry, which still today we believe is spread by
His Providence and adapted to the needs of the Church and of the evangelisation
of the world".

POPE SPEAKS ABOUT ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST Vatican
City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - This morning, Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the
Baptist, Benedict XVI made his customary Sunday appearance at the window of his
private study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered below in St. Peter's
Square."With the exception of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist is the only
saint for whom the liturgy celebrates the day of birth", said the Pope. "This is
because his birth is closely connected to the mystery of the Incarnation of the
Son of God. From the womb, in fact, John was the precursor of Jesus. His
prodigious conception was announced by the Angel to Mary as a sign that 'nothing
will be impossible with God'. ... The four Gospels give great importance to the
figure of John the Baptist as the prophet who concluded the Old Testament, then
opened the New by indicating Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the Anointed One
of God. And indeed Jesus would speak of John in these terms: 'This is the one
about whom it is written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will
prepare your way before you'"."John's father Zechariah", the Holy Father
went on, "was a priest of the Old Testament order. He did not immediately
believe in such unexpected paternity and was therefore made mute until the day
of the child's circumcision". On that day, "moved by the Holy Spirit, Zechariah
spoke thus of his son's mission: 'And you, child, will be called the prophet of
the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give
knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins'."All
this happened thirty years later", Pope Benedict added, "when John began
performing baptisms in the River Jordan, calling people to prepare themselves,
by that act of penance, to the imminent coming of the Messiah, which God had
revealed to him during the period he spent in the wilderness of Judea. For this
reason he is called 'Baptist'; in other words 'Baptiser'. When one day Jesus
Himself came from Nazareth to be baptised, John at first refused, then
consented; he saw the Holy Spirit come to rest upon Jesus, and heard the voice
of the heavenly Father proclaiming His Son".Yet the Baptist's mission was
not yet complete. "Shortly afterwards he was asked to precede Jesus also in
violent death. John was decapitated in the prisons of King Herod, thus bearing
compete witness to the Lamb of God Whom he had been the first to recognise and
announce".

SOLIDARITY OF CHURCH WITH EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN ITALY
Vatican City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus, the Holy
Father recalled the fact that today in Italy marks the Day of the Pope’s Charity
and he thanked parish communities, families and faithful for their "constant and
generous support which goes to help so many of our bothers and sisters in
difficulty".In this context he also reminded the faithful that he will make
a brief visit to areas recently affected by earthquakes in northern Italy. "I
would like this to be", he said, "a sign of the solidarity of the entire Church,
and therefore I invite everyone to accompany me with their prayers".Finally,
he also had words of greeting for Polish faithful who, with the archbishop of
Poznan, the Oratorian Fathers and pilgrims at the shrine of the Mother of God in
Gostyn, are celebrating the five hundredth anniversary of its foundation. "Let
us thank God", the Pope said, "for the grace which that place has showered upon
generations of faithful through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. May her
protection accompany you always".

POPE PRESIDES MEETING OF HEADS OF
DICASTERY OF ROMAN CURIA Vatican City, 23 June 2012 (VIS) - This morning in
the Bologna Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Benedict XVI presided at a
meeting of heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

HOLY SEE PRESS
OFFICE DIRECTOR ON POPE'S MEETINGS WITH CARDINALS Vatican City, 24 June 2012
(VIS) - Fr. Lombardi has provided journalists with information about meetings
the Pope held on Saturday 23 June, first with heads of dicasteries of the Roman
Curia, and subsequently with Cardinals George Pell, archbishop of Sydney,
Australia; Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Jean-Louis
Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue;
Camillo Ruini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome,
and Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of
Peoples."In the context of the circumstances that have arisen following the
publication of reserved documents, the Holy Father is seeking to deepen his
knowledge of the situation through continuous dialogue with those people who
share with him the responsibility for governing the Church", Fr. Lombardi
said."Last Saturday, as has already been made public, he became more fully
informed on the course of the investigations in a meeting with the Commission of
Cardinals responsible for conducting them, led by Cardinal Julian
Herranz."This morning he is participating in the meeting with heads of
dicasteries which, as is customary, is focusing on the issue of coordinating the
work of the Roman Curia, something which is particularly important and urgent
today in order to bear effective witness to the spirit of union which animates
it."In the afternoon he has chosen to meet with a number of members of the
College of Cardinals who, by virtue of their vast and varied experience serving
the Church, not only in Rome but also internationally, may profitably exchange
ideas and suggestions with the Holy Father in order to help re-establish that
climate of serenity and trust in the service of the Roman Curia."Naturally
the Holy Father will, over coming days, continue his discussions and
reflections, also taking advantage of the fact that many pastors have come to
Rome for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which is an extraordinary opportunity
for the community of the universal Church to feel united to the Pope in prayer,
service, and the witness of faith for mankind in our
time".

COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR FOR THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE
Vatican City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) - The American journalist Gregory Burke,
who is currently Rome correspondent for Fox News, will shortly take up the post
of "communications advisor" to the Secretariat of State, according to an
announcement made by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi
S.J."This new figure", Fr. Lombardi explained, "will have the task of
dealing with communications issues in the work of the Secretariat of State, and
will oversee relations with the Holy See Press Office and other media
institutions of the Holy See".AUDIENCES Vatican City, 25 June 2012 (VIS)
- The Holy Father today received in audience:- Fra' Matthew Festing, prince
and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, accompanied by an
entourage.- Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.- Cardinal Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens, archbishop military ordinary
emeritus of Spain.On Saturday 23 June he received in audience: Cardinal
George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S.,
prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president
of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; Cardinal Camillo Ruini,
vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, and Cardinal
Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of
Peoples.OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 25 June 2012 (VIS) - The
Holy Father appointed Fr. Pius Riana Prapdi, vicar general of the archdiocese of
Semarang, Indonesia, as bishop of Ketapang (area 34,600, population 543,314,
Catholics 101,593, priests 30, religious 91), Indonesia. The bishop-elect was
born in Painiai, Indonesia in 1967 and ordained a priest in 1995. He studied in
Rome and has worked, among other things, in pastoral care and as director of
diocesan Caritas. He succeeds Bishop Blasius Pujaraharja, whose resignation from
the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.On Saturday 23 June it was made public that he:-
Gave his consent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Greek-Melkite Church of Bishop Jean-Abdo Arbach B.C., apostolic exarch for
faithful of Greek-Melkite rite resident in Argentina, as metropolitan archbishop
of Homs, Hama and Yabroud (Catholics 30,000, priests 19, permanent deacons 1,
religious 29), Syria.- Appointed Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, apostolic
nuncio in Kenya and permanent observer to the United Nations Environment and
Human Settlements Programs (UNEP and UN-Habitat), as apostolic nuncio to the
European Union.- Appointed as members of the Council of Cardinals for the
Study of the Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See: Cardinal
Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; Cardinal Telesphore
Placidus Toppo, archbishop of Ranchi, India, and Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop
of Hong Kong, China.

ASIA NEWS REPORT: by Bernardo
CervelleraThe winning story of two young
Koreans of the eighteenth-nineteenth century who loved each other virginally and
supported each other until martyrdom. Director Kim Suhyeong: It is a
thanksgiving to God for the faith given to Koreans. Today there are Korean
missionaries in many countries around the world.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Korean Embassy
to the Holy See has made a nice gift to the Italian Catholic community: it has
organized the screening of a film about a pair of Korean martyrs, John and
Rugalda, who both suffered martyrdom in the early 1800s. The film has a
meditative and dramatic pace, with moments of high poetry and high-level
photography. The screening took place in Pius X hall, on via della
Conciliazione, but the film will also be shown on the Catholic channel TV2000
tonight, June 25, at 9:20 p.m. The work is produced in Korea by the PBC
(Pyeonghwa Broadcasting Corporation), linked to the Korean Bishops'
Conference.

The Italian title ("Giovanni e Rugalda, due sposi
vergini" - "John and Rugalda, two virgin spouses"), doesn't do justice to
the work. The theme is not the Church's teaching on premarital sex, but the
story of two real people who lived their faith and their vocation to the point
of martyrdom. The film proves, if proof were needed, that the Christian
tradition and the stories of the martyrs have no end of material to fill entire
TV series, without inventing characters who often risk banality.

Focusing
on the tastes and traditions of the time (the XVIII - XIX centuries), the film
tells the story of John Yu Jung-cheol, 19, and Rugalda Yi Sun-I, 16. Both come
from noble and wealthy Christian families; both, after baptism, decide to
consecrate themselves to the Lord. But the environment shaped by the Confucian
tradition did not allow young people from wealthy families not to marry and have
children. So the first foreign priest (Chinese), who raised them in the faith,
in agreement with the parents, has them enact a marriage ceremony, while
maintaining the covenant to live "as brother and sister."

In a clean but
dramatic manner, the work shows the derision that surrounds them, as well as the
their travail in the "temptations" (documented also by the letters left by
Rugalda). But it is especially in the story of their martyrdom that the film
reaches its high points. In 1801 John's family is arrested and sentenced to
death. John's father, Augustine, among the early converts in Korea, is quartered
in the public square. John and Rugalda, arrested at different times, manage to
send each other messages, sustaining each other through their torture and
suffering, in the hope of "seeing each other in Paradise."

It should be
noted that the two, along with other Korean martyrs, are awaiting approval for
their beatification from the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints.

Director Kim Suhyeong, present at the screening, told AsiaNews
that his work is inspired by the movie "The Mission" by Roland Joffé, set in
Latin America. It is meant to be a thanksgiving to God for the gift of faith to
Korea, born 200 years ago, without the presence of any missionary. Another
thanks is for the growth of Christianity in a hostile environment. "This couple
depicted in the movie", he said, "are two out of thousands of faithful who have
given their lives". And the third thanks is for the Korean Church: "Now", he
concluded, "we have grown to the point of sending missionaries to many other
countries around the world. All this faith was born and developed from the
testimony of the Korean martyrs."

For more information on John Yu and
Rugalda Yi, see.: Various Authors, Sposi e Santi, Dieci profili di santità
coniugale, Cantagalli, 2012.SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT

People must not be made to feel a burdenor
that they have a duty to die

Voluntary euthanasia not only requires
the will and judgment of the patient but the will and judgement of the doctor
who must decide whether they agree with the patient, and that the patient would
be better off dead."If the doctor can make such a judgement of a competent
patient, then the doctor can equally make such a judgment in the case of the
incompetent patient," Dr Bernadette Tobin, Director of the Plunkett Centre for
Ethics at St Vincent's Hospital and Reader in Philosophy at the Australian
Catholic University (ACU) warned in her keynote address last week on Ethics and
Euthanasia.The third in ACU's landmark Voice Speaker series, Dr Tobin
pointed out that if a person was genuinely exercising autonomy, and not merely
yielding to impulse or compulsion, in choosing to kill themselves or to be
deliberately killed, they would proceed on the basis that either human life in
certain conditions or circumstances retained no intrinsic value or dignity
and/or the world be a better place if one's life were intentionally
terminated."Both judgements are mistaken," she said and added that such
judgments held grave implications for the weak and disabled.

Dr Bernadette Tobin

"Every human
being is equal precisely in having a human life which is our common humanity,
our personhood, our dignity, our intrinsic value. In refusing to violate that
life, one respects the human person in the most fundamental and indispensible
way," she explained. This was no less true with regard to the life of a
person trapped in an irreversible coma or an irreversibly unresponsive state, Dr
Tobin insisted and said the respect for all human persons required that no
choice be made to violate that value by terminating that life.While many
advocates of euthanasia claim assisted suicide should only be available on a
voluntary basis, mercy killing as it is frequently known, cannot be limited by
one's own particular identity and circumstances."The very reasoning that
leads us to accept euthanasia when it is voluntary commits us to accepting it
when it is non-voluntary," Dr Tobin cautioned and explained that the common
feature was the judgement that "death may be a benefit." Advocates of
euthanasia underestimated the pressure legalisation of assisted suicide would
place on others who would feel compelled to "avail themselves of the practice."

Dr Peter Saul, intensive care specialist
calls euthanasiaa side show and sayshe is more interested inthe
95.5% who want to live

"People should not be made to feel they are a
burden because they are dependent on others," Dr Tobin said and dismissed
British philosopher and committed euthanasia advocate, Baroness Mary Warnock who
speaks of people having "a duty to die" and believes those with dementia who
have become "a burden to their family or the state" should be among those to
receive permission if they elect to die."Many are already suffering enough
and don't need someone, with the privileged background of Baroness Warnock,
breathing down their neck and telling them they shouldn't really be here," Dr
Tobin said.Discussing advances in palliative care and Australia's "serious
if not adequate effort to improve the care of people in pain," Dr Tobin admitted
that not all people die well."Some die badly in pain or discomfort, without
the benefits of palliative medicine, lonely, uncared for, with unresolved
hostility or resentment to a family member or friend, feeling a burden on
others, fearful their life amounted to nothing much, that they could have lived
it better," she said and called for doctors to be trained to relieve pain "at
least as well as are vets!"But even in pain and discomfort, few with
terminal illnesses opt for "assisted suicide," Dr Tobin said and quoted
intensive care specialist at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, Dr Peter Saul who
regards euthanasia as nothing more than a side show.

Intrinsic value and dignity in every human
life

Pointing out that in nations such as the Netherlands where
assisted suicide has been legalised, only 0.5% want to be given poisonous
overdose, Dr Saul says: "I'm more interested in the 99.5% who want to die well.
Let's deprive euthanasia of its oxygen."After Dr Tobin delivered her keynote
address, a panel discussion took place between euthanasia advocate, Dr Philip
Nitchske, Professor Margaret O'Connor, the Vivian Bullwinkel Chair in Palliative
Nursing at Monash University, Melbourne and Father Frank Brennan, human rights
champion and Professor of Law at ACU's Public Policy Institute.Designed to
create public debate on important issues, ACU's quarterly Voice Speaker Series
launched in October 2011 with a discussion on the Ethics of War. In March this
year the discussion was Refugees and Our Ethical Obligations followed by last
week's address and discussion on Ethics and Euthanasia. Details of each in the
series can be accessed by logging on to www.acu.edu.au/about_acu/research/about_us/news_and_events/acuvoice_speaker_series/SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY

LOMÉ, June 22, 2012 (CISA)- Fear, shame and
deep-rooted cultural traditions continue to marginalize disabled children in
Togo, as they are often ridiculed, locked up, hidden and neglected, cutting them
off from normal life. According to Christian Blind Mission (CBM),
an international organization to assist the disabled, about 378 thousand
children are disabled out of a population of six million inhabitants. In smaller
villages, such situations are magnified by the reactions of neighbours forcing
the disabled to remain locked in houses to avoid being seen, mocked and insulted
for their deformities.On the occasion of the recent celebration of African
Child Day, a warning was launched not to neglect disabled children, discriminate
or use violence against them. Few attend school and receive the education they
need. Changing entrenched cultural traditions of the country is very difficult,
but the families whose children have been helped well know that they should not
exclude them from everyday life.In 2011 the Government of Togo ratified the
UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and is aware of the
difficulties the disabled face. However, it must still determine serious
measures to help counter the popular belief. In Africa, between 5 and 10% of
children have disabilities, primarily due to genetic causes and complications
during childbirth, from diseases such as polio, measles, meningitis and cerebral
malaria, as well as for lack of food and poor health care.SHARED FROM CISA
NEWS AFRICA

Niall
Leahy SJ found an Irish Catholic community ready to embrace renewal and
celebrate their faith at the International Eucharistic Congress 2012 in Dublin.
A lot has changed in Ireland in the 80 years that have passed since the country
last hosted the Congress, so how did this year’s event reflect the
transformation in its host country and in the wider Church?80 years ago, a
fledgling Irish state hosted the International Eucharistic Congress. The black
and white images from 1932 show masses of people welcoming church dignitaries
enthusiastically and paying public homage to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings,
present in the Eucharist.In 2012, Dublin became one of the few cities to
have hosted the International Eucharistic Congress more than once. During the
intervening years, Ireland has changed in many ways, culturally, socially and
economically. Equally, the Second Vatican Council has transformed the Catholic
Church's understanding of its own mission and place in the world. With this in
mind, as I journeyed through each day of the Congress I was eager to find out
how Catholic Christians' way of 'doing Church' in Ireland has evolved over the
best part of a century.To read more of Fr Niall's piece on Thinking
Faith see: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20120622_1.htm

Agenzia Fides report - The Catholic Church and the
Defensoria del Pueblo have urged the government of Bolivia and the police, whose
agents have been asking for a salary increase in the past few days, to speak
without taking radical positions, to avoid violence.The Secretary General of
the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB), His Exc. Mgr. Oscar Aparicio, on behalf
of the Church launched an "urgent appeal to establish as soon as possible an
open and responsible dialogue, to avoid violence that would have unpleasant
consequences". "Moreover, no claim, however legitimate it may be, must leave the
people defenseless," said Mgr. Aparicio in a statement sent to the international
press and to Fides, referring to the measure taken by the police not to patrol
the streets, asking higher wages.Meanwhile Defensoria del Pueblo, declared:
"We are concerned about the situation of helplessness in which the population
finds itself, in the absence of protection on behalf of the police. We appeal to
both sides to seek a solution in the framework of dialogue and peace , avoiding
radical and uncompromising positions that prevent peaceful solutions and
agreements."Sergeants, corporals and police forces are in revolt in about 20
units and command centers throughout the country, and have even looted their own
offices, a Directorate of Intelligence and Disciplinary Tribunal, one block from
the presidential palace in La Paz .According to the data sent to Fides, the
rebels demand a minimum wage of 2,000 bolivianos (about $ 287), the pension with
100% of their salary and the annulment of a law that forbids them to express
themselves as public opinion. The Interior Minister Carlos Romero, has responded
by saying that the first point is plausible, but has asked for dialogue, and did
not say anything about the other two requests. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 26/6/2012)

ST. WILLIAM, having lost
his father and mother in his infancy, was brought up by his friends in great
sentiments of piety; and at fifteen years of age, out of an earnest desire to
lead a penitential life, he left Piedmont, his native country, made an austere
pilgrimage to St. James's in Galicia, and afterward retired into the kingdom of
Naples, where he chose for his abode a desert mountain, and lived in perpetual
contemplation and the exercises of most rigorous penitential austerities.
Finding himself discovered and his contemplation interrupted, he changed his
habitation and settled in a place called Monte-Vergine, situated between Nola
and Benevento, in the same kingdom; but his reputation followed him, and he was
obliged by two neighboring priests to permit certain fervent persons to live
with him and to imitate his ascetic practices. Thus, in 1119, was laid the
foundation of the religious congregation called de Monte-Vergine. The Saint died
on the 25th of June, 1142.